


Paging Dr. Lundwall

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Confessions, Dinner, Drinking, F/M, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Inhuman rights, Inhumans (Marvel), Kissing, Male-Female Friendship, Older Man/Younger Woman, Politics, Teasing, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 03:23:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9158029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: Daisy returns with Dr. Lundwall to the Inhuman Symposium.For the #thejcexchange, prompt is: Mace brings Coulson and Daisy along to an Inhuman Summit and they behave a bit unprofessionally...





	

He's assured her that he won't be recognized.

Probably more for his own peace of mind than hers at this point.

"Malick's been exposed as a HYDRA operative, and Dr. Sean Lundwall was just an unwilling dupe in his plot."

She's just happy to have him by her side for this.

It's the first time they've been undercover before. Half-undercover?

Daisy's face is far more infamous than his. But this time she gets to attend as Quake, representative of officially sanctioned SHIELD.

"Phil Coulson died in the Battle of New York," she reminds him, shutting the door to her hotel room. "Malick was trying to smear Phil Coulson's good name."

"Yeah," he raises his eyebrows above the rim of his glasses, putting her overnight bag on the bed. "Kind of sad for the dead guy."

"Do we have time to cheer the dead guy up?" she asks, shutting the closet where she's put the suitcase with her field suit inside.

He gives her a polite smile and crosses his fingers in front of him. "What else would Quake and Dr. Lundwall have in common? Besides Inhumans."

"Besides Inhumans?" she shrugs, walking closer to him, as the corner of her mouth pulls up. "Quake really _loves_ science. A lot."

It never fails. Coulson's smooth façade starts to crack.

"What kind of science?" he asks, fidgeting.

She rolls her eyes, and turns to unzip her overnight bag.

"I'm trying to stay in character," he explains, putting his hands in his pockets. At least he didn't flee.

"Advanced textiles," she says, lifting out a pair of lacy underwear as he swallows. "What? Indestructible panties."

He looks fairly pained, but also amused, and presses his lips together. "Not his field."

Tossing him a look over her shoulder, she takes her toiletry bag with her into the bathroom.

"He does like a great croquete," he calls after her. "Anyone can talk over food, right?"

"Sounds thrilling," she answers, wrinkling her nose as she crosses the room back to him.

"He's nervous about spending so much time with an Inhuman. Especially one like Quake."

"You mean he wouldn't jump at the chance? Doesn't seem very in character to me," she goes on, digging into her bag for her laptop.

The prodding is starting to work, she can tell. He's gone quiet.

Thinking.

Flipping open the laptop, she sits on the edge of the bed and goes to work.

It's also pretty clear that they've never done undercover together before.

"He would probably love the chance," he announces, a moment later.

"Oh," she replies, surprised, and stops to look up at him.

"Does eight sound okay?"

"Yeah, sure," she says, waving him away as she stares down at the laptop again.

"I'll just-"

She hears the door click shut as he leaves while she types, then she stops and looks back at her bag.

What did she pack again?

 

 

###

  
"I must say," he lies, leaning across the café table. "I didn't think you'd say yes."

"Why is that?" she asks pushing her hair behind an ear. "We're here as colleagues."

"Because I'm a lot older than you, not a superhero," he says, sitting back in his chair.

She supposes that's mean to be flattering.

"It never even occurred to me to think of your age," she presses her lips together, and lifts the menu in front of her face. "Why would you bring that up?"

"Appearances," he admits, with an apologetic raise of his eyebrows.

"I'm not sure if you're aware," she intones slowly, leaning forward. "But there's pretty much nothing about my life that looks as it appears."

"Of course. My apologies." He props his elbow on the table and rests his face in his hand. "Is Quake your real name?"

"No," she says, lifting her eyes as the waiter passes by. "It's Daisy."

"Daisy," he repeats, sounding way too familiar when he says it.

"I don't think we know each other _quite_ that well, Dr. Lundwall," she chastises him.

"Just thinking about appearances."

Withdrawing his arm, he sets the menu to the side, as the waiter comes up to them.

She goes first, and then taps her fingers while the Doctor asks some questions, and then orders a glass of wine at the last minute.

The waiter pauses and turns to him afterwards, offering him a drink as well.

"Sure," he nods, adjusting the glasses he's wearing.

"Why the CDC?" she asks. "You could've gone into any number of agencies."

"I wanted to protect people. To be on the front lines when there are legitimate threats."

"But not Inhumans." She takes the glass the waiter brings and lifts it.

"Inhumans could be our first line of defense. For those who want to help. If they can."

"Because we're dangerous."

"No," he shakes his head. "You're like us, but with a little something extra."

She hesitates for a moment, then says, "You said that at the last symposium, Doctor."

"You were listening."

He slips for a minute, his expression turned curious and soft.

"I was," she smiles at him, then touches her glass to his. "It was nice. Cheers."

She can tell the wheels are turning, and he tips back the glass and takes a long sip.

"It's part of the reason I said 'yes' tonight," she adds, leaning forward to bend her elbow to the table, and sliding her fingers along the hair tickling her shoulder.

"I'm glad you did," he answers back. "That's a lovely dress."

"Got it this afternoon," she admits, shrugging her bare shoulders. "Packed symposium-friendly attire only."

"Wow," he says, sitting back to cross his leg over his knee, running his thumb along his lower lip. "That almost sounds like a line."

She watches him smile, holding her gaze.

Then the waiter arrives with their food.

 

 

###

  
People are curious, of course, about why he's back here.

But unfortunately, there aren't too many other people here representing governments that support Inhuman Rights, which makes it possible to repeat his seat.

"Do you want them to call you Quake?" he asks her, when they're left alone again.

"It says it right here on the brochures," she tells him, slapping it against her palm.

The truth is people are giving her a wide berth, official SHIELD status and all.

"It's not every day you meet someone that can set off a fault line," she goes on. "I'm sure they're terrified."

"There's nothing terrifying about you, Daisy," he says seriously, stopping her with a hand on her arm. "Wait for the roundtable."

"That's very kind of you, Dr. Lundwall," she begins. "But I'm beginning to suspect a possible conflict of interest."

It works. He gives her a tiny smile.

"Agent Johnson."

They both look up at the amused voice to see Talbot in front of them. "I'm sure you're both surprised to see me. I wasn't on the official list. For reasons you can probably guess at."

"Yes," Daisy nods, exchanging a look with Coulson. "I'm sure you remember Dr. Lundwall?"

"Oh, yes," he smiles. "The guy that was accused of being that other guy who lead HYDRA. My memory is kind of fuzzy. What was his name again?"

"Hardly remember," she sees him reply to Talbot dryly.

"Kind of forgettable, wasn't he?" Talbot teases. "You, Agent Johnson. Not so forgettable."

She shifts uncomfortably and looks around the room to see what eyes are on them.

"We could probably have a symposium just to explain your activity for the past six months."

She narrows her eyes.

"Working in official SHIELD capacity. That's the story, right?" he goes on, holding her gaze for far too long.

"In what official capacity are you here again?" Coulson steps in to say.

"Still head of the ATCU, last I checked," he says spreading his arms out.

"I'm not here to talk about SHIELD," she thinly smiles. "I'm here to talk about Inhuman Rights."

"Fair enough," he replies, then reaches for a tray of champagne. "And good luck."

They both watch as he walks away.

 

 

###

 

The funny part is, she's not sure who was angrier when it was over.

Her or him.

"You're the one with the right to be angry," he tells her, when they're back in her hotel room again. Coms switched off for the moment.

She feels like she set herself up, to keep believing that people's compassion-

No, that's not right. She's not letting them take that away from her too.

It just hurts.

Part of her wants to ask if it's better or worse than the last time. That he will lie to her to make her feel better.

She already told him she heard the recordings from before. She knows.

"Thank you for being there. With me."

That's all she can think to say.

"Daisy," he sighs, taking off the glasses and folding them to put them in the pocket of his shirt.

She puts her hand out on the bed between them, an offering, and feels his fingers slide against her palm, linking their fingers together.

Her head tips sideways to make contact with his shoulder, and they sit there for a moment.

"It was bad," she admits.

"It was," he nods, then he draws back so she can see the resolution in his eyes, his jaw twitch. "But I have some ideas. I think you might, too."

She's so glad he's here with her. She could kiss him right now.

She wishes she had kissed him before now, so that kissing him right now wouldn't seem like such a big deal.

"We should talk," he nods, raising his hand to slide his fingers along a piece of her hair, then continuing, to trace along her face, as he leans in and kisses her once, softly, on the mouth.

Why now? After everything?

She grabs the front of his suit jacket and kisses him full on the mouth, pulling him against her, working his mouth open, rough and needy. Quieting the voice in the back of her head that warns her it will be too much.

He twists to fit his body over hers, moving her back onto the bed, until she's laid out and then he kisses her again, gently this time, slowing things down, lowering himself to skim his lips along her jaw until he reaches her ear.

"But not here," he whispers, feather-lite. "SHIELD."

Her fingers raise to touch his reddened lips, and she kind of wants to sob. If this is just more spy stuff. Of course they're being watched by SHIELD, too. The 'team that trusts'. Right.

He smiles, and kisses the tips of her fingers. "Dr. Lundwall would like to ask you out again."

"Okay," she mostly mouths, as he sits up and then offers her a hand to pull her up after him.

"He really likes that white dress you wore last night," he tosses over his shoulder, flirty, then nods and turns back on the coms.

They can hear the repetitious-sounding call sign in the background. Trying to reconnect them with the base.

"Just needed a moment, "she says into it, going for short-sounding over breathless.

"If no one objects," Coulson speaks, looking over to her, and sliding his glasses back on. "We're signing out, and drowning our sorrows."

There's a pause, then, "Copy that."

Daisy smiles, and starts to take off her gauntlets.

 


End file.
